Mark Hoban: The Government are today revising the Debt Management Office's (DMO) 2010-11 financing remit to reflect revisions to the net financing requirement. The net financing requirement for 2010-11 has been revised upward-by £0.2 billion-from £162.5 billion at the June Budget to £162.7 billion. The revisions to the net financing requirement arise from the net effect of:
	a reduction in the central Government net cash requirement (CGNCR) of £1.9 billion;
	an increase in sterling financing for the official reserves of £2.0 billion; and
	additional secondary gilt market purchases by the DMO of £0.1 billion.
	The downward revision to the CGNCR is a reflection of revisions announced today by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to the fiscal aggregates, which have a consequential impact on the CGNCR. The revisions are set out in the OBR's "Economic and fiscal outlook, November 2010", published today.
	The increased funding for the official reserves has been provided to meet potential calls under the UK's IMF commitments. These commitments have recently expanded following parliamentary approval in July 2010 of the UK's increased contribution to the IMF's New Arrangements To Borrow. This delivered the UK's share of the G20 agreement to treble the resources available to the IMF.
	The increase in the net financing requirement of £0.2 billion will be met by an increase in the gilt issuance programme in 2010-11 of £0.2 billion. Gross gilt issuance for 2010-11 is now projected at £165.2 billion.
	The planned Treasury bill stock as at 31 March 2011 is £60.8 billion-unchanged from the projection at the June 2010 Budget (and compares with levels as at: 31 March 2010-£63.3 billion; 31 March 2009-£44.0 billion).
	As at the June 2010 Budget, the Government are confirming the net finance target for National Savings and Investments to be a zero net contribution to financing, within a range of +/- £2 billion.
	For 2010-11, gross gilt issuance of £165.2 billion is projected to be split as follows:
	£52.7 billion of short maturity gilt issuance (31.9% of total);
	£38.2 billion of medium maturity gilt issuance (23.1% of total);
	£40.5 billion of long maturity gilt issuance (24.5% of total);
	£33.8 billion of index-linked gilt issuance (20.5% of total);
	This proportionate split is unchanged from that announced in June 2010.
	Auctions will remain the Government's primary method by which gilts are issued. The Government will continue to use supplementary methods-syndication, mini-tenders and the post-auction "top up" facility-to issue gilts in the remainder of 2010-11. For 2010-11, it is projected that:
	£132.0 billion will be issued by pre-announced auctions (79.9% of total);
	£26.2 billion will be issued by syndication (15.9% of total); and
	£7.0 billion will be issued by mini-tender (4.2% of total).
	Consistent with provisions in the DMO's financing remit relating to the post-auction "top-up" facility, average auction sizes in the remainder of the year will be reduced but there will be no change to the number or timing of auctions scheduled for the remainder of 2010-11.
	The Government are also publishing today a revised estimate of the fiscal impact of the spending review 2010, based on the OBR's autumn forecast. Copies of this document have been deposited in the Libraries of both Houses and are available in the Vote Office and Printed Paper Office.
	
		
			 Financing requirement 2010-11 
			   2010-11 
			 
			 £ billion  June Budget Autumn statement 
			 
			 Central Government net cash requirement  146.1 144.2 
			 
			 Gilt redemptions  38.6 38.6 
			 Financing for the official reserves(1)  4.0 6.0 
			 Buy-backs(2)  0.1 0.2 
			 Planned short-term financing adjustment(3)  -26.3 -26.3 
			 
			 Gross financing requirement  162.5 162.7 
			 Less
			 Assumed net contribution from National Savings and Investments  0.0 0.0 
			 Net financing requirement  162.5 162.7 
			 
			 Financed by:
			 1. Debt issuance by the Debt Management Office
			 Treasury bills  -2.5 -2.5 
			 Gilts  165.0 165.2 
			 of which
			 Conventional Short 52.6 52.7 
			  Medium 38.2 38.2 
			  Long 40.4 40.5 
			 Index-linked  33.8 33.8 
			 
			 2. Other planned changes in short-term debt(4)
			 Changes in Ways and Means  0.0 0.0 
			 
			 3. Unanticipated changes in short-term cash position(5)  0.0 0.0 
			 
			 Total financing  162.5 162.7 
			 
			 Short-term debt levels at end of financial year
			 
			 Treasury bill stock in market hands(6)  60.8 60.8 
			 Ways and Means  0.4 0.4 
			 DMO net cash position  0.5 0.5 
			 (1) The additional £2 billion of Sterling financing for the Official Reserves will be provided to meet potential calls on the Official Reserves arising from the commitments made at the G20 London summit. (2) Purchases "rump" gilts which are older, small gilts, declared as such by the DMO and in which gilt-edged Market Makers (GEMMs) are not required to make two-way markets. The Government will not sell further amounts of such gilts to the market but the DMO is prepared, when asked by a GEMM, to make a price to purchase such gilts. (3) To accommodate changes to the current year's financing requirement resulting from: (i) publication of the previous year's outturn CGNCR; (ii) an increase in the DMO's cash position at the Bank of England; and /or (iii) carry over of unanticipated changes to the cash position from the previous year. (4) Total planned changes to short-term debt are the sum of: (i) the planned short-tern financing adjustment; (ii) net Treasury bill sales; and (iii) changes to the level of the Ways and Means advance. (5 )A negative (positive) number indicates an addition to (reduction in) the financing requirement for the following financial year. (6) The DMO has operational flexibility to vary the end-financial year stock subject to its operational requirements in 2010-11

Dental National Decontamination Survey 21010

Simon Burns: In recent years we have gained a better understanding of the risks of transmission of infectious diseases like hepatitis from poorly maintained health care premises and instruments which have not undergone effective decontamination. The risk to individual dental patients is small but, with 1.5 million people undergoing dental treatment each week and some 500,000 people infected with blood-borne viruses many of whom may be unaware of their infection, we cannot afford to be complacent.
	Because of this risk and evidence that some dental practices might not be achieving adequate standards, the Department issued health technical memorandum 01-05 "Decontamination in primary care dental practices" in November 2009. In implementing the HTM we have sought to strike a balance between protecting patients and the constraints imposed by the layout and structure of dental practices which, while being easily accessible in the high street, may have limited scope for expansion and upgrading.
	I am today publishing the report of the dental national decontamination survey which was undertaken at the start of the year. The primary aim of this, the first national survey of current standards of decontamination in primary care dental practices, was to provide a baseline to compare standards in general dental practice at the time of issue of the HTM 01-05 with those set in the guidance. The HTM is intended to encourage continuous improvement in local decontamination by giving dental practices a range of options to achieve the essential quality requirements (EQR) identified in the HTM and progress to best practice.
	EQR is a level of decontamination which will achieve significant risk reduction, while best practice offers an optimum level of protection. The main features of best practice are the provision of a dedicated room for decontamination away from where clinical care is delivered and the use of an automated washer-disinfector, for the cleaning of instruments.
	All practices are expected to be operating at EQR essential quality requirements by the end of this year; no timeframe has yet been set for the achievement of best practice because of the need for further information to be obtained about the constraints imposed by the design and structure of some dental practices.
	I am very grateful to the primary care trusts (PCTs) and the dental practices which participated in this voluntary survey, and to the Health Protection Agency which worked with the Department in bringing it to completion. In total 75 PCTs participated in the survey which involved nurses with training and experience in infection control visiting 487 randomly selected dental practices. Practices were assessed in relation to essential quality requirements and best practice at the time that the HTM was published.
	The results of the survey showed that around 70% of practices were already working at EQR with some 20% of practices already achieving best practice. Approaching 20% of practices were very near EQR with the remaining minority operating at an unsatisfactory standard.
	These results show that the majority of practices were meeting EQR and it is likely that this figure would have increased over the year as practices began to implement the HTM.
	I was very encouraged to learn that well over two thirds of practices were already meeting EQR. As to the remainder, the survey data show a number of practices need to improve their cleaning of instruments which is a critical part of the decontamination cycle. The Department is encouraging practices to acquire automated washer-disinfectors, whose use is a feature of best practice, to achieve a uniformly high standard of cleaning of dental instruments.
	The Department has, in collaboration with the Infection Prevention Society, produced a self-assessment audit tool to allow all dental practices to assess their level of compliance with the quality standards in the guidance. By applying the audit tool, practices will be able to compare their standards to those included in the sample survey.
	The quality of local decontamination will be one of the factors the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will take into account in monitoring standards when dental practices are brought within its remit from April 2011. The CQC will wish to ensure that it only registers practices that can demonstrate local decontamination is carried out to acceptable standards.
	The dental national decontamination survey report has been placed in the Library. Copies are available for hon. Members in the Vote Office and for noble Lords in the Printed Paper Office.